After the stock market tumbled Tuesday, some investors braced for more pain while others breathed a sigh of relief. The Dow Jones industrials sank 297.81 points, or 3.8%, to 7,552.60 as share prices around the world sank on renewed worries about the health of the banking industry and doubts that governments can patch together a quick economic recovery. "I have never seen investor confidence lower than it is today," said Al Goldman, chief market strategist at Wachovia Securities.

A revamped financial rescue plan unveiled Tuesday by the Obama administration landed with a thud on Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down almost 400 points to its lowest level since November. Financial stocks were hit the hardest as investors vented frustration at the dearth of specifics in a speech by Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner.

November 13, 2008 | Walter Hamilton, Hamilton is a Times staff writer.

More glum news on consumer spending and a reversal in the Treasury Department's plan to buy troubled mortgage-related debt from the country's banks combined to drive the stock market to its third straight loss Wednesday. The Dow Jones industrial average sank more than 400 points as it and other major stock indexes fell about 5% to near or below their Oct. 27 lows, which investors had hoped would serve as a floor under stock prices.

Stocks closed lower Monday after initial enthusiasm about a $586-billion Chinese stimulus package fizzled and investors succumbed to anxieties about how U.S. companies would survive a severe pullback in spending. There was little news Monday to placate investors concerned about U.S. corporate health. American International Group got more money from the federal government, but Detroit's struggling automakers have yet to hear whether they, too, will get aid.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has backed away from its plan to force money managers to disclose publicly how they've "shorted" stocks. The agency late Wednesday announced changes to a series of emergency rules it put in place beginning Sept. 17 to curb short selling, which has been fingered -- some say unfairly -- as a major cause of the collapse of many bank and brokerage stocks. As expected, the SEC, under Chairman Christopher Cox, said it would extend its outright ban on shorting of nearly 1,000 financial stocks beyond the scheduled expiration today.

Let's hope this isn't telling us that the next bull market will be in soup kitchens. The only stock to rise in the Standard & Poor's 500 index on Monday was . . . Campbell Soup Co., which edged up 12 cents to $37.75. At times like this, investors often find refuge in stocks of companies that make the basic, low-priced things we need to live. The reasoning is that even if the markets are melting down, and the economy will soon follow, we all still gotta eat, drink and (hopefully) use deodorant.

Wall Street ended another tumultuous session with a sizable gain Tuesday, partly recovering from its worst sell-off in years after the Federal Reserve said it was keeping interest rates steady. Anticipation that troubled insurer American International Group would come up with a much-needed cash injection made room for many financial stocks to rally. Meanwhile, the Fed's decision not to change interest rates, while not popular with investors clamoring for a rate cut to boost market sentiment, appeared to sidestep the second-guessing about the health of the economy that can follow a cut in difficult times.

With financial markets around the globe facing one of their most tumultuous weeks in recent memory, investors can be forgiven if they're reaching for the rip cord right about now. The news over the weekend was truly trauma-inducing. Lehman Bros. Holdings Inc., one of Wall Street's best-known investment banks, was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch & Co., another faltering blue-chip name, was seeking salvation through a shotgun marriage to Bank of America Corp. Insurer American International Group Inc. was looking to sell assets and borrow from the Federal Reserve to raise cash.

Stocks finished another volatile session narrowly mixed Friday as gains in the energy, utility and raw-material sectors offset some of Wall Street's angst over the fate of Lehman Bros. Holdings. The three major stock indexes all managed to end the week higher. The troubles of the financial sector dominated trading as investors tried to glean insights into Lehman's race to sell itself or otherwise regain Wall Street's confidence. The company's shares spiraled lower this week, heaping pressure on executives at the No. 4 Wall Street investment bank to line up a buyer or a source of fresh capital.

Stocks barreled higher Thursday after a better-than-expected reading on the gross domestic product gave investors some reassurance that the economy was holding up. The Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 200 points. But the rally may have been exaggerated by light trading volume, typical for the week before Labor Day. Financial stocks surged after a deal between two bond insurers boosted hopes that the credit markets were beginning to right itself. A decline in oil prices also appeared to benefit stock prices.